Bowling ball



BOWLING BALL Nov. 18, 1941;

Filed Jan. 22, 1940' INVENTOR. BY 506 E0 5,

k AT ORNEY.

Patented Nov. 18, 1941 BOWLING BALL Sol Ross, Chicago, Ill., assignor toThe Brunswick- Balke-Collender Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation ofDelaware Application January 22, 1940, Serial No. 314,917

4 Claims.

More particularly the invention relates to small bowling balls such asso-called duck-pin and candle-pin balls, and the provision of meansonthe ball for locating the bowlers hand and improving his grip on theball.

Heretofore small bowling balls have generally been made of a hardcomposition material with a perfectly smooth spherical surface. Theseballs are preferably five inches in diameter although somearemanufactured with a diameter of four and one-half inches or'four andthreequarters inches in order to accommodate bowlers who have small orweak hands. In use these balls are grasped in the palmof a bowlers handwith the fingers more or less spread apart. Since the ball is hard andperfectly smooth there is nothing to guide the bowler in applying thishand and fingers to the ball and nothing to assist him in holding theball.

The rules of the American Duck PinCongress provide that a bowler mustuse a ball five inches in diameter or less. At present, manufacturerscustomarily produce this ball either four and one-half inches, four andthree-quarters inches, or five inches in diameter, although there is asmall percentage of balls produced of intermediate sizes. Bowlers withsmall or weak hands usually use one of the smaller sized balls as withthe present style of ball such a bowler could not properly grasp andcontrol the five inch ball. Obviously, bowlers who use a smaller ballare at a disadvantage. For example, the widest portion of a duck pin isfour and one-eighth inches in diameter. With a four and one-half inchball, a bowler, to pick up a single pin, must roll the ball within aspace thirteen and one-eighth inches wide centering on the center of thepin. With a five inch ball the bowler can roll the ball within a spacefourteen and one-eighth inches wide, centering on the center of the pin,this providing an additional margin of safety and a better chance toknock down a single pin. Then; too, the bowler who uses a five inch ballhas the additional advantage of the extra weight as a five inch ballweighs more than a four and one-half inch ball.

It is the general object of this invention to provide a new and improvedbowling ball.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedduck or candle pin ball with markings or grips for locating the bowlersfingers on the ball and for aiding the bowler in gripping the ball andcontrolling its delivery.

With the help of such finger markings or grips, a bowler with a small orweak hand can grasp and control a five inch ball better than that samebowler can now control the present four and one-half inch ball andmerely from the standpoint of the ball of additional size and additionalweight that my invention enables a bowler to control, such a bowler willobviously improve his game. From the standpoint of the manufacturer ofduck pin balls, my invention will make possible the elimination of 1various sizes of balls now used and decrease the quan-- tity of ballsthat must be kept in stock.

Another object is to provide a new and im-- proved duck pin ball with agripping means enabling a player with small or weak hands to grip anduse the standard five inch diameter ball.

It is another object to provide a duck pin ball with one or more insertsspaced apart andpositioned on the ball at points convenient to locateand to receive the portions of the player's fingers in the positionassumed in relation to the hand of a bowler which is indicated in adash-dot line.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view looking at the rear side of the ball shownin Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged and fragmentary section through a grip portion ofthe ball of Figs. 1 and 2;

While my invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms,I have shown in the drawing and shall herein describe in detail one suchembodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to beconsidered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention andis not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated.The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In general the invention relates to the provision of a bowling ball of asize suitable for use with duck and candle pins, having means on thesurface thereof to aid a bowler in locating his fingers on the ball andin gripping the ball. In the drawing I have illustrated a duck pin ballIt] made of a hard rubber composition material. A plurality of circularrecesses ll, l2 and I3 are formed in the surface of the ball inpositions intended to locate the thumb and first and third fingers,respectively, of the bowlers upon the ball, inserts or disks I5 of arelatively soft material such as uncured soft rubber may be placed inthe recesses. These are preferably secured to the ball by vulcanizingeach insert to the ball. In practice this may be accomplished byapplying a heated vulcanizing element against the outer surface of theinsert and applying pressure thereto to force the insert into the recessand against the walls thereof. As illustrated herein, the recesses andinserts are proportional so as to provide shallow depressions forportions of the bowlers thumb and fingers.

It is to be understood that the grips thusprovided for the fingers arelocated differently for each player. If desired fewer or additionalgrips may be provided. In the form herein illustrated the grips not onlyprovide a slight depression into which portions of the thumb and fingersfit, but the inserts, being of relatively soft rubber, provide aslightly tacky surface which aids in gripping the ball. By providingsuch grips on the ball the player can readily grip the ball in an exactmanner each time the ball is used and in addition the player has morecomplete control of the ball during its delivery.

Different markings may be used for the different fingers and thumb sothat a bowler could at a glance determine how to grasp the ball.Furthermore, an owner's initials may be sunk into the inserts as shownat l1, l8 and I9 herein, the initials being also of uncured soft rubberand vulcanized in place.

The average bowler does not always grasp his ball in the same way. Bymeasuring the distance between his fingers when a bowler is grasping theball in the most comfortable and proper manner possible, and thenindicating those points of contact on the ball in a clear anddistinctive manner, the bowler will have an automatic means ofdetermining the best way in which to grasp his ball. This will removeone of the difiiculties that keeps the bowler in the average rather thanthe expert class, as with the ball disclosed herein one of the variablesin his game has been removed and he can now concentrate his energy andefforts on the other points involved in getting a good score. With thefinger markings or grips on the ball it is possible to train a newbowler more quickly as the question of how to grip the ball is takencare of automatically.

The soft rubber inserts vulcanized to the ball provide surfaces withgreater adhesive qualities and thus enable the bowler to grasp the ballmore firmly and to release it with better control. When placed indepressions in the ball these grip inserts enable the bowler to graspthe ball and to release it with still better control.

I claim as my invention:

1. A bowling ball having on its surface shallow finger tip grippingdepressions, the depressions being of such slight depth that they willcontact only the surfaces at the outer ends of the tip portions of thefingers, when the ball is grasped by the hand.

2. A bowling ball formed of a hard rubber composition material andhaving a plurality of gripping recesses formed in the surface thereof,inserts of soft rubber positioned in said recesses, the recesses beingof such slight depth that they will contact only the surfaces at theouter ends of the tip portions of the fingers, when the ball is graspedby the hand.

3. A bowling ball having on its surface shallow finger tip grippingdepressions, the depressions being of such depth and shape that theywill only accommodate the tip portions of the fingers, when the ball isgrasped by the hand.

4. A bowling ball having on its surface shallow finger tip grippingdepressions, the depressions being of such slight depth that they willcontact only the surfaces at the outer ends of the tip portions of thefingers, two of the depressions being placed at substantially oppositesides of the ball.

SOL ROSS.

